Razor honing device



4, 1964 H. c. OSBORNE 3,142,943

RAZOR aoumc; DEVICE Filed March 5, 1962 INVENTOR. Harold C Osborne BY Z "ArrY 2 United States Patent 3,142,943 RAZOR HONKNG DEVICE Harold C. Osborne, 6410 Girard Ave., Cincinnati, Ohio Filed Mar. 5, 1962, Ser. No. 177,458 1 Claim. (1. 51-158) This invention relates to honing steps for obtaining an improved cutting edge on straight razors and to a manually operated pattern and razor directing device for reproducing each of the steps; it being contemplated that repetition of my honing steps with the aid of said device will eventually teach the independent execution of my honing process.

It is an important object of this invention to provide a honing process comprising a succession of steps which when employed in a specified order will produce a fine and keen cutting edge on a straight razor that will have improved shaving characteristics.

Another object of the invention is to provide an inexpensive and simplified device for manually reproducing, executing and eventually teaching the steps of my honing process, whereby a beginner will become proficient in the performance of my process in the shortest possible time.

Other and more specific objects will become apparent from the following specification taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings which show preferred embodiments of my pattern means for carrying out and teaching the honing steps for sharpening straight razors:

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of my pattern means.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged section taken on line 22 of FIG. 1.

In FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings I have depicted my pattern means and the numeral 27 therein indicates a folded blank of cardboard, or the like, which has an end section 28 adapted to contact the underside of the honing stone 5. Hinged to one side of the section 28 is an intermediate section 29 adapted to contact a longitudinal ly extending side of the stone whilst a pattern carrying end fiap 30 is hinged to the free edge of the intermediate section 29. Pattern means 31, 32 and 33 are made on the upper surface of the flap 30 as by printing, or the like, it being noted that line 31 is straight and is diagonally positioned with respect to the longitudinal center line of the stone 5, said line being inclined at an angle of 45 with the longitudinal center line of the stone. The line 32 has the form of an involute of a circle, and is disposed on the pattern face 30, such that the long curved portion is obliquely positioned with respect to the center line of the stone whilst the short curved portion of said line terminates in a direction substantially parallel to the longitudinal center line of the stone; the involute in its circular extent describing a circular path of about 360 from its initial to its terminal ends. The line 33 is straight and is disposed at right angles to the longitudinal dimension of the stone.

The blade 20 of the straight razor 18 is inserted into a sheath 34, that has an integral finger portion 35 extending from the toe receiving end of the sheath. This sheath and its finger is economically made of two similarly shaped sections of cardboard, folded along common longitudinal sides and having their opposed side edges adhesively secured together. A reference line 36 is printed on a face of the finger and intersects a circular mark 37 printed on the free end of the finger. By visual reference of the circular mark 37 to each of the pattern means 31, 32 and 33 the razor and the sheath may be moved to reproduce the honing steps to thereby acquaint a beginner with its various motions and in time make him proficient 3,142,943 Patented Aug. 4, 1964 in said motions whereafter he could dispense with the device and manually execute the process from memory and/or reflex actions.

The razor honing steps will now be described by reference to the several figures of the drawing. As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings the straight razor is manually held at all times during execution of the process in a position whereby the longitudinal center line of the blade will be at right angles to the longitudinal center line of the stone 5 and the cutting edge of the razor will be held against the stone at an appropriate honing angle. The honing steps are initiated by placing the circular mark 37 on the finger portion 35 over the line 31 at its initial end A and the first step is made by moving the mark from A to B, which moves the razor diagonally or obliquely across the surface of the hone with the edge of the razor trailing such movement and in a heel-to-toe direction of the razor edge. Secondly, the circular mark 37 is moved from the position B back to the position A along the line 31, thus moving the razor diagonally across the surface of the hone back to the position A and thus directing the razor diagonally across the razor of the hone with the edge of the razor against or leading such movement in a toe-to-heel direction. The razor 20 is then reversed face-to-face and the mark 37 on the finger portion 35 is next placed on the initial end C of the involute line 32. The razor is then moved through the involute of the circle first along the long curve of the involute with the edge of the razor trailing such initial movement and the circular movement is terminated by moving the razor through the short curve portion of the involute to the position D. At this point one full cycle of the honing steps has been completed.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new 1s:

In a device for directing the manually executed steps of honing a straight razor comprising a honing stone holder having a planar pattern face parallel to the plane of the flat honing surface of the stone, a diagonal guide means on the pattern face disposed at substantially 45 with the longitudinal center line of the stone, a second guide means on the pattern face having the form of an involute of a circle, the long curve of the involute being substantially normal to the longitudinal center line of the stone, a pattern follower comprising a sheath adapted to enclose the blade of a straight razor, and a reference means including an integral finger having a longitudinal line marked centrally thereon which intersects a circular reference mark on the free end of the finger, said finger extending from the toe end of the sheath, said reference means on the end of the arm cooperable with each of the guide means on the pattern face of the holder.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 630,106 Purdy Aug. 1, 1899 759,626 Mosby May 10, 1904 962,935 Alfano June 28, 1910 992,420 Hammond May 16, 1911 1,129,918 Strong Mar. 2, 1915 1,131,170 Strong Mar. 9, 1915 1,133,256 Boerner Mar. 30, 1915 1,255,656 Steedman Feb. 5, 1918 1,257,692 Frenette Feb. 26, 1918 1,610,206 Gabriel et a1. Dec. 7, 1926 1,764,776 Breaux June 17, 1930 1,884,574 Cink Oct. 25, 1932 2,675,656 Riedler Apr. 20, 1954 

